European stock markets open in the red, and oil prices rise by up to 13% due to tensions in the Middle East.

This Friday morning saw the announcement of a multi-pronged attack by the Israeli army against nuclear facilities and other military targets located in Iran, the country with one of the world's largest oil reserves. The Israeli move shook commodity and financial markets , triggering a 13% increase in oil prices; causing widespread declines in European stock markets, which turned their opening red; and increasing the value of gold, which, acting as a safe haven from geopolitical crises and financial instability, has reached historic highs.

The Madrid stock market, the Ibex 35 , opened Friday's session with a 1.2% drop , resulting in the loss of the 14,000 points it had recently reached, which had become the new benchmark. Specifically, at 9:00 a.m., the Madrid index stood at 13,919.2 points .

Their European counterparts fared no better, turning into a widespread red. Thus, at the start of a day in which the price of oil reached its highest level since last January, European stock markets opened their respective markets with declines that, for the most part, exceeded 1%. The DAX , an index of blue-chip stocks listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, fell 1.49%. The Milan Stock Exchange sank 1.43%. The CAC 40 in Paris fell 1.35%. And the FTSE 100 , the London index, registered a drop of 0.68%, the least pronounced decline at Friday's opening.

Oil has followed a different path. As expected upon hearing the news of the multiple overnight attacks on the world's third-largest oil reserve, and despite Iran stating that its refineries and oil depots were undamaged, a barrel of Brent crude—the benchmark for Europe—rose 13.22% to $78.53 . Although this represents the highest price since the end of last January, it is not a value outside the "normal" range for this type of business, which usually remains between $75 and $85, as experts explained to this newspaper. However, the fact that this is currently a "normal" value does not mean that, if the price of crude continues to rise in line with geopolitical tensions, the situation will remain unchanged in the future; rather, if this happens, alarming increases could occur.